Sunday, December 6, 2009

Homemade Crackers Go With Everything

Crackers make life worth living, if you ask me. I've always wanted to try making my own. Plus, someone needs to offset the sugar tsunami of the holidays, so when I stumbled on this recipe at Culinate for Lora Brody's Multi-Seed Crackerbread, I thought: OK then, yum, the time is right.

It's true what they say at the link about crackers being fun and easy. I kept wishing my pal Heather were here as I rolled them out (using a bottle of wine because I was too lazy to walk upstairs to search for the seldom-used rolling pin).

My favorite line from the recipe:"the goal is to get the dough as thin as possibleand impregnated with seeds"

The picture above shows the set-up after you mix the flours, cornmeal, water, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Worth noting: I didn't have rye flour but I never let that stop me from riffing on a recipe. I subbed organic brown rice flour I got from the bins at Whole Foods.

So you mix, knead quickly, and divide the dough into 8 little balls. Stir the seeds and herbs in a bowl. They offer ideas, but I say go with the flavors you love and have on hand. Our custom blend included fennel and sesame seeds + dried basil and rosemary + pink salt and freshly ground pepper.

I liked spooning out a tablespoon of the seed/herb mixture onto the board and then smashing one of the dough balls into it, as recommended. A lightly floured board and wine bottle work well for rolling, with the seeds acting as a sort of ball-bearing mat to keep the dough from sticking too much to anything.

When you can roll no more, slide two of the large cracker ovals onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 7 to 10 minutes while you roll out another set.

Mmm. I knew I would love this cracker.

If you want yours to look like these, flip them over halfway through baking so the other side browns. I'm drawn to the visual and flavor of brown, and if you've diligently rolled your crackers thin enough, you'll get some nice crispy edges. Note the anemic-looking cracker in the upper right corner of the photo above. That's what happens if you don't flip 'em halfway through.

You won't believe how often you'll reach for one of these. They're a fine accompaniment to soup, fruit, cheese, or testa (more on that from Bruce soon).

Gavin: they are amazing. Sturdy enough to hold up to your hummus yet light enough for a smear of goat cheese. I like your site--have been obsessing over vertical growing recently and need to get into it.

GRG Slideshow

"Why Bother?"

"Measured against the Problem We Face, planting a garden sounds pretty benign, I know, but in fact it's one of the most powerful things an individual can do--to reduce your carbon footprint, sure, but more important, to reduce your sense of dependence and dividedness: to change the cheap-energy mind."